


Reconciliation

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Background Relationships, F/M, Mental Health Issues, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motherhood, Reconciliation, Spaceships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 14:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cordelia begins the reconciliation process</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reconciliation

**Author's Note:**

> My second Vorkosigan Saga fic! ;)
> 
> For the 1MW word of the day "Trepidation"
> 
> Post "Barrayar"  
> Pre "Warrior's Apprentice"

Cordelia had sent her mother a wedding invitation, slipped into the mailbag aboard the imperial ambassador's ship as he headed for talks on Beta Colony. It was, in fact, a few months too late for her mother to actually attend the wedding, but Cordelia felt that some effort must be made. She hadn't wanted to risk anything - or anyone, coming to "save" her from the ceremony - beforehand, but now that a "safe" amount of time had passed, she relented. She really did want her mother to know that she was married. And in the kind of marriage that one invited relatives to, not the kind of prisoner/guard sham that most Betans would assume it.

Her mouth twisted at the memory of the series of shrinks she had dealt with upon her return to Beta Colony. She was tempted to send them wedding invitations too, but she had tempered that vindictive streak. Her mother, however, was a different story.

Over the weeks that she had spent traveling to Barrayar and the months she had spent with Aral, Cordelia had come to forgive her mother's part in the whole fiasco. After all, her mother had never met Aral. All she knew was whatever propaganda they were channeling in on Beta Colony during the war. She had no idea that it was all lies, and those damn shrinks talked such a smooth line about what they imagined had happened to her... sadists, all of them. It was little wonder that her mother had cooperated, out of concern for her daughter. It wasn't her fault - exactly - that the side she had cooperated with the insane side.

So Cordelia had sent a very fancy card - more announcement than invitation - declaring her marriage to Lord Vorkosigan and the date it had happened. She had also tucked a small handwritten note into the envelope, saying how she wished her mother could have been there, and that she had an open invitation to visit Barrayar.

It wasn't an effusive welcome, but it wasn't a denouncement of the Betan government or mental health field, and Cordelia was satisfied that she had done her part to mend the broken bridge - though bridge was an antiquated term on Beta Colony, better to say 'the broken wormhole' - between them.

Cordelia hadn't really been expecting a reply.

oOo

Miles was two years old, if counting from the day he was pulled from his uterine replicator. Two and a half if one counted the day of her cesarean as her birth. It had been generally decided to count the latter as his actual birthday - in part to bring him closer in age to his peer group of Ivan, Gregor, and young Elena. However, Cordelia still felt herself drawn to think of his birthday as the day he had been placed in her arms for the first time, rather than the day he had been removed from her body.

It was a trivial distinction on Barrayar, where most people still believed that Miles should be killed on sight for being a mutant - and even more trivial in light of the fact that, despite Vaagen's hard work he still looked no bigger than a one year old, shriveled and wizened like a raisin.

But standing on the bridge of the _Skeiv Vorhasha_ , with Miles in her arms and Gregor and Aral standing beside her, awaiting the arrival of her mother, it suddenly seemed like a very important question in Cordelia's mind. How old was Miles - by Betan standards?

Just as she had decided on a simple 'two years old' the door to the bridge slid open with a quiet whoosh. The ImpSec guards, already at an impossible stance of Attention, seemed to straighten and stiffen even more, as strangers entered the presence of their Regent and Emperor.

It was a diplomatic mission, technically, via Escobar. Gregor's first trip off-world, and the inaugural moment of the new research exchange program. A handful of Barrayaran scientists and doctors were going to Beta Colony, to improve their techniques and learn about new technology such as the uterine replicators, while a dozen Betan doctors returned in their place to teach those left behind. Cordelia wasn't sure exactly what the Betans were getting from this deal - Aral had been more than a little tight-lipped about that end of things - but she had been quickly distracted by the news that her mother was going to be one of the Betans coming to Barrayar.

Of course, she wasn't coming as Mother-in-law to the Regent, she was coming as Mrs. Naismith, medical assistant. But Cordelia had seen though the polite Betan double-speak. That was the reason that she and Miles were along, standing here beside Aral and Gregor in the supposedly "neutral" space above Escobar, about to greet their Betan exchange team.

The doctors and their assistants trooped stiffly onto the Bridge, roughly two dozen people in all, including their Barrayaran escort. Cordelia's eyes instantly sought her mother's which flicked to her briefly before locking back onto the head doctor.

Right, business first.

Without prompting, Gregor launched into his welcoming speech, declaring them under his protection and giving his personal warm welcome. When he finished, he stood very still. Cordelia could tell from the straightness of his back and the way his hands were very deliberately not clenched into fists that the seven year old Emperor was still quite nervous. She didn't want to give him away by saying anything now, but he deserved a giant hug once they were safely returned to the privacy of the Imperial suite.

Aral diverted attention by smoothly going into his own welcoming speech, which was followed by the introductions. To Cordelia's mixed relief and surprise, very few of the Betan delegation gave her funny looks at her introduction. She wondered how far the story of her marriage had spread on Beta Colony. Aral had conveyed Illyan's information that it had become something of a folk tale in certain military and Survey circles, and of course most of the mental health division was still trying to justify it, but the average Betan might not actually know who she was. That thought was both cheering and a little sad.

Once the introductions were finished, the Betans were turned back over to their guide, who would show them to their berthing on the ship. At Cordelia's subtle nod, Kou slipped into the back of the group, ready to collect her mother once they were alone and double back to the Vorkosigan suite.

As soon as the group was out of earshot and the bridge doors had closed again, Cordelia knelt beside Gregor. She saw, from the corner of her eye, the ImpSec guards relax minutely, and she smiled. "You did so well!" she reassured the Emperor, giving him a big, one-armed hug. "You didn't miss a single word, did you?"

Gregor let out a long sigh and then smiled shyly and shook his head. "I practiced the whole time we were taking off," he confessed quietly. "I wanted to get every word perfect."

"And you did, kiddo," Cordelia reassured him. A flash of movement in her peripheral vision indicated that Drou was ready. "Didn't he, Drou?" she asked.

Drou smiled brightly and nodded, causing Gregor's smile to widen. "Ready to go back to your rooms?" she asked.

Gregor started to nod, and then hesitated. "I wanted to meet Cordelia's mother," he said.

Cordelia squashed down on the mixed feelings that gave her. "You can see her later, I promise," she said, fervently hoping that her mother's attitude would be accepting enough that Cordelia could keep her word. She wasn't a Vor, despite her new last name, but she had still made it a policy to keep her word to the young Emperor in her care.

He seemed to think this over for a moment before accepting it. After saying a quick goodbye to Cordelia and Miles, he was then pulled aside by Aral for a quiet word before Drou and his guard hustled him away.

Once they were gone and the Regents' honor guard was ready, Aral slipped his arm around Cordelia's waist, exchanging a smile with Miles, still tucked onto her hip. "Ready?" he asked.

Cordelia nodded. She was ready.

oOo

Later, as Elizabeth expertly held Miles on her lap, chatting easily with Gregor over a snack of cookies and milk, Cordelia wasn't sure what she had ever been worried about. 


End file.
